Australia Wants To Ban ALL Internet Porn

[bloodrayne]

Party Chases Porn PC Ban

Pressure is mounting on the Federal Government to force Australian internet service providers to outlaw all pornographic websites.

Federal Labor yesterday joined calls from fledgling political party Family First for a crackdown on internet content into Australian homes.

Family First senator Steve Fielding yesterday revealed he had been in negotiations for months with Prime Minister John Howard over measures to block internet porn.

However, Senator Fielding said he was dismayed at the time it was taking to convince the Government to do something about websites many people deplored.

"If the Government was serious about protecting children, they would move on this issue," he said.

Senator Fielding said a Government report last year had establishing that mandatory filtering of the internet would cost $45 million to set up and $33 million annually to run.

Under Family First's plan, internet porn would be blocked by Australia's most commonly used internet service providers.

This would also effectively block smaller service providers that buy their access through major providers, such as Telstra, on a wholesale basis.

The push for a crackdown on internet pornography comes after previous attempts appear to have failed. In 2002, the Australian Broadcasting Authority issued an edict for internet service providers to offer consumers cost-price software filters.

However, many filters are ineffective, remain expensive and most households have not adopted the technology.

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley yesterday said poor computer literacy meant almost two-thirds of parents didn't have internet filters on their PCs.

"Governments can and should do more to stop extreme internet content from getting into Australian homes and being accessed by kids," he said.

Under Labor's plan, all internet service providers would be forced to offer a "clean feed" service to households, schools and other public internet points accessible by children.

He said adults who still wanted to view legal porn content could opt out of the system.

However, Communications Minister Helen Coonan said PC-based filters remained the best way to police downloads on home computers.

She said forcing service providers to filter porn would slow the internet for all users.

"The Government will continue to monitor the effectiveness of filters and I am actively considering options for how the Government might increase the uptake of PC-based filters," she said.

[mothermold]

Originally posted by bloodrayne
Pressure is mounting on the Federal Government to force Australian internet service providers to outlaw all pornographic websites.

Good luck with that!:rolleyes: